Any U of I(llinois - Champaign) alums remember Hash Wednesday?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Torn betw posting here or MPSIMS, but I suppose it is a poll of a sort…

Inspired to reminisce about my campus experiences in What do you call your weed?, I was reminded of Hash Wednesday, a traditional day of civil disobiedience on the U of I Quad.

I attended this event from probably 1977-80, at a time when perhaps 10,000 or more students would come out and smoke pot that day. I heard that in 81 or 82 (I had moved out of town), bad weather had caused a very low turnout, so the police came in and busted everybody, and effectively killed it for many years to come.

Apparently, the tradition continues, albeit on a much smaller scale. Who says American kids have no respect for tradition?

2

I’m an Illini alum - 1984-1988. It was still going on during my college daze, and the cops usually turned a blind eye to it. Nowhere near 10,000 attending, I’d guess. Probably closer to 5000 throughout the day.

3

It was still going on throughout the 90’s, although it seemed to me that attendance has waned into the late 90’s. At the begining of my stint in 95, it was pretty packed. Unfortunately in 98 it was pretty dismal, I wonder how it goes now.